From The Farm To The City: A Thanksgiving Bounty For The Needy (With Gallery)

November 24, 2015

About 200 students from schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties worked in fields near Jay Monday to harvest collards and bag sweet potatoes that will feed hundreds of needy families later this week for Thanksgiving.

The event at the University of Florida’s West Florida Research and Education Center was part of Farm-City Week, bringing the bounty of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences farm to the needy of the city.

The FFA students from Northview High School, Tate High School, Jay High School, Central School, Beulah Academy, West Florida High and Ernest Ward Middle School harvested hundreds of bundles each of collard and turnip greens and sorted over a ton of donated sweet potatoes.

The greens were harvested in assembly line fashion — one student picking the greens, another bundling them with a rubber band and passed student to student to a waiting transport vehicle. Then teams of students worked to wash the greens. The students also bagged freshly ground corn meal and grits.

Along the way, the students learned not only about teamwork, but also about the farming process at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences farm.

The greens, sweet potatoes and other food items will be delivered Tuesday with the help of more students to about 700 families that were pre-qualified based upon need at the Waterfront Rescue Mission in Pensacola and the Guy Thompson Community Center in Milton.

For more photos, click here.

Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.



Comments

3 Responses to “From The Farm To The City: A Thanksgiving Bounty For The Needy (With Gallery)”

  1. PPPEEEEGGGYYYY!!!! on November 24th, 2015 10:26 pm

    I WAS THERE!!!!!!

  2. No Excuses on November 24th, 2015 3:31 pm

    What a great idea! Thanks to all of these young people for donating their time and love.

  3. Vicki Harrison on November 24th, 2015 9:37 am

    This is just wonderful!! So proud of each and every one of these young individuals! So many people are going to be ‘Thankful’ for your hard work and donation! Bless you all!